Island



(No Model.)

P. P. SANDS. DEVICE FOR ATTAGHING SAILS T0 SPARS.

No. 601,282. Patented Mar. 29,1898.

V A mfm Witnesses. Inventor;

A'tt rney.

THE cams PETERS (0.. mot-mums" WASHINGTON n c UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

FREDERICK P. SANDS, .OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

DEVICE'FOR ATTACHING SAILS TO SPARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601 ,282, dated March29, 1898.

Application filed April 3, 1897.- Renewed February 25, 1898. Serial No.6'71 ,694=. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK P. SANDS, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing in the city and county of Newport, in the State ofRhode Island, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inDevices for Attaching Sails to Spars, of which the following is a trueand exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to that class of sails which are distended by sparsor masts as distinguished from those set flying or on stays.

. bending.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved devicewhich, in combination with certain existing means or devices, simplifiesthe method, as well as saves time and labor in the act of attaching orbending sails to their spars.

Heretofore sails of the class to which my invention relates have beenattached to their spars, masts, yards, booms, &c., either by means ofhoops, which, encircling said spars, have been seized or lashed to themargins of the sails, or by means of T-headed rails or travelers securedto the spar and interlocking slippers, said slippers having a holloworfemale counterpart of said traveler formed in them and also eyes orholes, by which latter, like the hoops, they have been lashed atsuitable intervals along the margins of their re spective sails. Both ofthese old devices permit the sails to which they are attached to bemoved endwise of the spars as required in the acts of bending, setting,taking in, or un- In still other cases, and especially in the equipmentof yachts, the foot or lower margin of fore-and-aft sails havebeenfurnished with eyelets and laced to their booms by passing a lanyard;but in this case motion endwise of the spar, though desirable for theexact setting of the sail, has been practically prohibited, instead ofwhich, while I retain the feature of an eyelet-provided margin on thatside of the sail to be attached and also the feature of a traveler orT-rail fixed to the spar, I attach or bend, &c., the sail withoutlanyards or lashings and by means of combining with aforesaid eyeletsand traveler an open slipper-link, as hereinafter described.

Reference now being had to the accompa nying drawings, which form partof this specification, they will be found to illustrate my invention asfollows:

Figure 1 is a cross-section of a spar and a portion of a sail equippedwith my invention. Fig. 2 is aside view of the same, an outhaul,sheet-block, 850., being added for the sake of clearness. Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic view of one of my slipper-links in the act of assemblingwith a sail, the latter seen endwise and in section; and Fig. 4 is asectional side view of thepreferred form of my said slipper-link, theplane of section being the line w as of Fig. 3.

In carrying my invention into practice I provide, of hammered brass,galvanized wrought-iron, or other preferably non-corrosive, rigid, andtenacious material, a number of slipper-links L of the drawings. Theselinks equal in number the eyelets in the margin of any sail to beattached according to my invention, and are formed with an opening orjaw J, Figs. 1 and 3, of sufficient width to pass easily over both thebolt-rope B and the neck 15 of the preferably T-headed rail T,

which rail or traveler, as indicated by a woodscrew in Fig. 1, is fixedto the spar S.

Upon reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that any one of theslipper-links L being inverted can be passed over the bolt-rope B andacross margin of sail .9 until registering with an eyelet G a turningmovement will cause one of lugs Z to become inserted therein. Then com--pleting a half-turn of the slipper-link Lit can be brought from theintermediate position of enlinkment with the sail (indicated by theoutline L, Fig. 3) to its normal position for engagement with its propertraveler T--to wit, to the position of slipper-link L in Fig. 1, wherethe lugs Z, embracing the under sides of the flanges ff, can be slidendwise in the grooves formed between said flanges in the neck of theT-rail t and the adjacent portions of spar S. A number of such linksbeing enlinked with the eyelets of a sail, turned about, and passed inregular series over the ends of said T-rail fixed on a spar S serves toattach the sail thereto in a manner and way which will be readilyunderstood by sailors and therefore need not be further described. Toremove or unbend, the reverse manipulation of the links only is to beper formed.

Ioo

the bolt-rope B and enter into engagement with its proper traveler, asT, the main requisites of my invention in respect to slipperlinks aremet. The circular section of the slipper-links L at the point c, Fig. 1,where r eyelet-provided margin and a spar having a fixed traveler, of anopen slipper link or links 1 adapted to be inserted in saideyelet-provided they enlink with the eyelets G is, however, of greatadvantage, giving a swiveling or free motion mostdesirable. I alsoconsider the general triangular shape of the preferred form of theslipper-links L an advantage, for when used on the foot of a sail ittends to bring the links to a naturally even-riding or pendent position.

Should the ends 1 of the traveler or rail T near the ends of the spar Snot be sufficient for attaching or disengaging with said links, one ormore other gaps may be formed in said rail and so afford additionalplaces of attachment. This is indicated by the interruption in rail T ofFig. 2 by sheet-block band K and the broken lines 9, Fig. 1.

A further striking advantage of my slipperlinks is that beingself-contained and not requiring lashing they may be removed withouttrouble from the sails when unbent and by their absence permit flatfolding and save serious wear and tear incident to the ordinary lashedattaching devices, which it is too troublesome to remove and replace.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a sail having an margin and to engage with saidtraveler substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.

2. As an article of mannfactu re, a slipperlink provided with an openingor jaw J and a in g Z, said link being adapted to engage with theeyelet-provided margin of a sail and also with traveler-provided sparssubstantially as and for the purpose hereinbcfore described.

F. P. SANDS.

Vitnesses:

JULIA A. ADAMS, CHARLES ACTON IvEs.

